


Almost

by jng



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Akechi's experience as a phantom thief, Angst, Fluff, Mementos, Other, Slight fluff, Slight spoilers, The phantom thieves are really close, This was a dumb idea I got like two hours ago, i wrote this in an hour and only looked over it once sorry about typos, implied Makoto/Haru, it's kind of there if you squint, mentions of palaces, outsiders perspective, there's angst if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-29
Updated: 2017-08-29
Packaged: 2018-12-21 06:45:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11938536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jng/pseuds/jng
Summary: "In palaces, everyone was on their best behavior. They planned their every move accordingly. They were stealthy and fierce, like ninjas. They almost gave off the vibe that they were professional. Everyone had something to contribute in a palace, and everyone was more than willing to hear the other members out. It was disgusting.Mementos, on the other hand, was a whole other story."Akechi has come to learn quite a bit about his team during his experience as a Phantom Thief.





	Almost

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so basically I got this idea based off of those small lines of dialogue exchanged when exploring Mementos. I thought it would be interesting to write about what the Phantom Thieves friend group is like as a whole, and how crazy it really is. I thought it would be a cute idea and wanted to try it out.

Goro wasn’t entirely sure what he thought the Phantom Thieves would be like, but it most certainly wasn’t this. 

From what he had experienced in palaces, they seemed mature, and on edge. They all seemed to look up to Joker, and followed his orders. They took battles seriously and powered through. At every safe room, Joker would consult his teammates; ask about their progress and how they were feeling. If someone on the starting line up was exhausted, he’d have them sit out for a bit, and switch them with someone else. They all seemed to lean on one another in ways that Goro didn’t quite understand. In his opinion, it was pathetic how much they depended on each other.

In palaces, everyone was on their best behavior. They planned their every move accordingly. They were stealthy and fierce, like ninjas. They almost gave off the vibe that they were professional. Everyone had something to contribute in a palace, and everyone was more than willing to hear the other members out. It was disgusting.

Mementos, on the other hand, was a whole other story. 

Most of the time spent in Mementos was in the Mona-mobile. Sure, they’d occasionally find a place to rest, and yeah, every now and then they’d fight a shadow or two. They’d eventually find their target, change their heart, and that would be that. But everything in between was spent in the car. 

The banter that went on inside that cramped van was...an experience, to say the least.

Somehow, Goro found himself in the middle row, directly in between Panther and Skull. Joker was up front driving, Queen to his right. Noir, Fox and Oracle were all the way in the back.

Queen had one hand gripping the panic bar with strength that could probably snap Goro’s neck. He was almost scared that she would break it off. He couldn’t imagine how that must feel for Mona.

Skull was singing (if you could even call it singing) “I’ve been working on the railroad,” for whatever reason. Occasionally Mona would join in as well. For people (if Mona was even human) who seemed to hate each other, they made a great duet. Panther, on the other hand, was scolding the two of them. She was practically leaning over Goro, yelling at Skull to stop it. Their friendship would never fail to confuse Goro. Sometimes he questioned whether they were actually friends, or if they were siblings who were separated at birth. They definitely acted like siblings when they bickered like that.

In the back, Oracle and Fox were bickering, as per usual. Goro was only able to catch wind of a few words, but he did manage to make out iconic sentences such as “Your metaverse outfit just screams ‘furry,’” and “You have permanently ruined  _ Batman  _ for me,” and “What do you have against bacon?” and most importantly “I have no idea what you are referring to right now.”

Goro really did not want to know the context behind any of that.

Occasionally, Noir would step in and try to stop the bickering, but it was basically pointless. Goro had come to accept that nothing would ever stop those two from bickering. He thought Panther and Skull were bad? They had nothing on Fox and Oracle.

However, what Noir did managed to do, was thoroughly creep out Akechi. Every now and then she would lean forward, and with that soft and cheery tone of her, would voice thoughts such as “Isn’t it just exciting when a shadow is on the ground begging for mercy?” 

Goro made a mental note to stay as far away from her as possible when she found out he was responsible for her father’s death. Somehow, he didn’t think she would take too kindly to that. Perhaps he would be the next on her hit list.

The most confusing part about all of this was Joker. He had both hands firmly planted on the wheel and the most uninterested expression of all time. He could have been thinking about the mission while just as easily thinking about repeatedly stabbing someone. There was no telling what was going through his head. 

Goro half expected Joker to turn around and yell at them. Something like “If you don’t all behave right now, I will turn this cat around. There will be no shadow hunting today if you keep this up!” 

Although, perhaps Queen was more likely to do that. She gave off a very strong “mom” vive. She seemed especially agitated when in Mementos, and a bit freaked out. Judging from the comments she would make now and then, Akechi gathered that she wasn’t a big fan of the dark. Given that Mementos seemed to get darker and darker with each level, it would only make sense that she would be a little jumpy. However, in his opinion, mundane fears like that were fruitless, and didn’t deserve a second thought. 

Just to top it all off, someone had turned on the radio and had  _ Last Surprise _ playing at full volume. He could only imagine what shadows thought of the black van with ears that was yelling “ _ You’ll never see it comi-ing~”  _ while barreling down the labyrinth they called Mementos.

Mementos missions were definitely its own experience.

There was only one thing Goro could think of that was more chaotic.

Overall, the meetings were the cherry on top of the train wreck that was the Phantom Thieves.

Goro had lost track of  how many times he had arrived at the hideout, only to enter a room full of relentless squawking and memes. 

Yes, there were bouts of seriousness and focus. There were points where everyone was concentrated and stayed on track when discussing current missions. But then there were times when Akira and Ryuji took turns trying to throw popcorn into the other person’s mouth, or when Futaba would hack into the speakers at LeBlanc and play the weirdest and sometimes grossest audio recordings she could find, or when Makoto and Haru would aimlessly talk about anything could think of. There were times when Morgana and Ryuji would argue, and threaten to fight the other person, or when Futaba would attempt to corrupt Yusuke and show him dumb memes, or when Ann and Akira would insult someone named Mika. 

Akechi wasn’t sure how anyone managed to get anything done during these meetings, and he was there. Yet somehow, they always emerged with a plan, an update on their progress, and an official deadline. 

Being apart of the Phantom Thieves was without a doubt one of the most bizarre time periods of his life. But in a way it was refreshing? It was almost like he had a tight group of friends who liked him for him, and not just because he was a local celebrity.

...Almost.

It was almost a shame they were unjust.

Almost.

But not quite.

**Author's Note:**

> hmu on tumblr @kghisalbert12  
> feel free to let me know if you see any typos or grammar mistakes!


End file.
